2023 uni applications for those pursuing art and creative routes

[Duchessofmuchness]

The other thread discussing Uni applications for RG and academic routes isn't so relevant for DS. He's considering Art Foundation year or direct entry to uni for fashion design.

Anyone care to join a thread on similar creative paths. (Not just fashion!)

He's looking at art foundation at Kingston, Central St Martin's, UCA,

For Fashion BA looking at Central St Martins, London College of Fashion, Manchester Met, Nottingham Trent, Liverpool John Moores, Leeds Beckett.

Most seem to accept without art foundation but he would need one to Central St Martin's so if he wants to try for that will need foundation.

Lots of open days coming up and hopefully school will give him some more advice next week. No start on his PS yet!!

Well done to your dd!

Well done @luluposs! Was it an email or did she have to log on to her portal?
My daughter sent her portfolio (for foundation at Camberwell) a few days before her deadline about a week ago. Sadly this was done from the hospital as she was there for four days. It looks like she has Multiple Sclerosis, though they need to do further tests to rule anything else out. Really hope she gets in as she really needs some good news. As it is I'm not sure how she is going to handle her A levels, with stress being a major trigger for flare ups.

Fingers crossed for your DD, @mondaytosunday.

DD keeps sending me art, which is a real bonus of having DC on creative courses (I wouldn't really want to see essays/problem-sheets, to be honest). Here's one of her contributions to their "live brief," producing art for an open-air pool. The Course Leader is passionate that 'illustration' doesn't have to mean drawing (although they spend a lot of time drawing...) and it's rubbed off.

@PhotoDad how lovely!

@mondaytosunday I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter's diagnosis. So unfair for her to have to go through this - but thankfully she has your loving support and care. Wishing her very well.

Re LCF: my daughter had an email direct from UAL offering her a place yesterday for Fashion Design BA (she's yet to even put the portfolio in for her CSM foundation altho might not bother now...) She's not great at checking email and not sure if the offer is showing up on UCAS but UAL did send the email.

Me again - had to share good news hot off press as daughter just heard from her last remaining UCAS application and it's a YES for her first choice of Kingston for Fashion BA! Thrilled for her as she wasn't expecting it.

She's totally chuffed - she actually got rejected for their foundation which is quite interesting, but all 5 offers Uni incl KSA for degrees!

SO glad now she went for UCAS this year after all, despite her teachers all telling her just to stick to foundations (prob to make their lives easier!). It's been a lot of work and stress but worth it. She's buoyed with confidence in herself and her work now, whereas if she'd only applied to foundations she'd have nothing (yet)!

Wishing everyone still waiting lots of luck.

@luluposs Fantastic news! Well done to her.

@mondaytosunday sorry your daughter is having such a tough time. Hope she gets good news soon.

My dc finally submitted FAD applications for City & Guilds and AUB. Only applying to these plus Kingston for Foundation years.

That IS really interesting @luluposs! I have long suspected it's harder to get on a foundation course than a degree course - I suppose it's logical as no matter what their field of interest is (painting, fashion, animation) they'd mostly (UAL accepted) be applying to the same few Foundation courses. But excellent news.

Mostly lurking on this lovely thread as this will be a task here for next year.

Monday that must be a shock for you all and I hope she gets some good news soon.

Has anyone been to an offer / applicant holders day yet?

DD went to an offer holder's day last year; she had already chosen and firmed an unconditional offer, and I would highly recommend it even in those circumstances. DD likes to know the "lie of the land" in advance, and familiarity with the campus and city really helped ease moving-nerves. But mainly, she exchanged contact details with others on her course and kept in touch (even going camping in the summer with one of them), so when she started she already had some friends. That was huge for her.

@PhotoDad it certainly sounded worth while.

That’s such great news @luluposs and so pleased for your daughter!


And so sorry to hear about your daughter’s health @mondaytosunday and hope she gets some good news soon.

Also really enjoy @PhotoDad’s updates - it’s really lovely how she shares it all with you!

My daughter has been for the offer holder day at Nottingham and hasn’t heard about an offer holder day yet for Falmouth and is still waiting to hear if she has an offer or not from Manchester and London College of Communication (UAL). She’s still completely undecided other than we think London isn’t really an option due to cost and her student experience will end up being a part time one as she’ll have to work a huge number of hours a week to make ends meet which wastes the opportunities available to them as students.


Meanwhile she’s been shortlisted for NUA’s Beyond The Frame competition and we’re off to a day up there later this month as they put on a day of talks and things for the shortlisted students. She was shortlisted last year too and it was a really good day and we enjoyed the talks, the exhibition, and mooching about Norwich. Will try to have a bit more of an explore this time. It all seemed very quiet last year with a lot of cafes shut just after lunch but now think maybe we were just in the wrong part of Norwich and so will try to find the centre this time. Does anyone have any recommendations for great cake and coffee?

Feeling very relieved my daughter is taking a gap year as knowing how difficult it can be to secure accommodation especially at the city unis it means she can wait for the offers without stressing.

@Soma my daughter went to an offer holder day at Nottingham Trent a few weeks ago. It was very similar to the open day but with an additional workshop in her subject and more course specific tutors available for questions.

@PerkyBlinder DD is also going to the NTU offer holder day this month. She's hoping that the workshop will be good and she can meet the course leader. Did your DD find it useful/helpful?

May I ask parents on this thread if there are any tips for younger ones coming through the art route. My dd loves drawing and I could see her being interested in a Fine Art degree. Are there any other subjects for A Level aside from Art which would be useful/required? Any tips on what to consider/look in to at GCSE stage?

@mondaytosunday so sorry to hear your stressful news for your dd, I really hope she can achieve her ambitions

More good news for people, congratulations!

@FriendlyLaundryMonster You might get different advice, but here's mine. Do GCSE Art. Do an A-level in art or a related design subjects. However, doing more than one art/design A-level will mean a lot of coursework and isn't "needed" to go further (my DD took other non-art subjects she enjoyed which didn't have coursework). Encourage DD to draw as much as she likes!

When your DD is at A-level stage, she should have a good long look at whether she wants to go into Fine Art (you explore your own ideas in different media) or Design (you work on projects assigned to you by clients). There's no right answer, it depends on the individual. Within Art & Design there are lots of different specialities, and if she can't decide, or wants to try them out, there's a whole one-year "Foundation Diploma" route which has been extensively discussed in this thread. Good luck!

Maybe in a few years I'll see all of the lovely posters here on a thread about getting jobs with an art/design degree... (I know that some of you have first-hand experience of this, so it will be fascinating to see how the landscape has changed!)

@PhotoDad Thank you so much!

@FriendlyLaundryMonster I have to say that this is an incredibly friendly and supportive thread; DC applying for foundation, or degree programmes in pretty much every speciality within art/design, or already on courses, and several posters who've been through art-school themselves (and others who are brand new to the experience). Do ask anything!

@PhotoDad what brilliant advice!! I wish I'd known all that when DD was choosing GSCEs 😬! Especially as her dad and me went for science subjects.
@FriendlyLaundryMonster FWIW - DD started both Art & Textiles GCSEs but dropped Art as she wasn't enjoying it. She continued Textiles at A Level alongside 2 'academic' subjects and is now on a Foundation year. She'll be going to Nottingham Trent in Sept.
Also if you do start looking for Uni courses don't get sucked into the old Russell Group whirlpool of doom - as you'll see from this thread most of the good courses are at post '92 unis and the courses are not represented well in the traditional league tables (Sunday Times, Guardian etc)

I do get wound up a little bit by the Russell Group threads! Both my DW and I are RG/Oxbridge but it's horses for courses. Polytechnics (now 'Post 92') tended to start with mergers between various technical/trade/art schools, so a lot of prestigious art/design courses with long histories and great reputations within the field have ended up in those institutions. (DD's place is older than nearly all RG universities, for instance.)

@FriendlyLaundryMonster my daughter did gcse art and now at A level, with History and Psychology her other two. I think it's worth doing one art and two other subjects of interest, and try to do well in them, as even though most art schools do not require high grades, you never know if your child decides to pursue something else and this will provide a back up. My daughter's other big interest is social anthropology, therefore History and Psychology, and if her art career goes pear shaped before she even starts it, she will have the grades to do something else.
The Art Foundation diploma is certainly not essential, though many do it before their degree. It can be a time to explore other disciplines, especially if the A level course did not have the facilities available to do ceramics, sculpture, printing, graphic design or animation, for example. And it can be a bridge between school and university, a sort of working gap year, allowing the time to mature and solidify the next step.
There are also, depending where you live, many short courses at art schools over the summer or term breaks for 16-18 year olds. My daughter did a week long animation course at UAL Central St Martins, which confirmed her love of it plus she grilled the teacher about her real life work. This will also demonstrate interest in the subject. Her school newspaper might need illustrations or photographs - you get the idea. All these help round out a portfolio.

@mondaytosunday Thank you! I love the idea about offering to illustrate the school magazine. That's definitely something she could do. Her teachers tell me she is very talented in drawing. They are thinking she's year 13 level now (for drawing) when she's in year 10. But, she has a tendency to do what she likes, rather than experiment. She is hanging on to her science subjects and I know she believes there won't be any 'good' jobs in art. I just want to do my own research a little, so if she asks, I can at least give her some info. We are in Scotland, so UAL a bit too far away. I visited their website yesterday as they seemed to offer courses for teenagers, which did indeed look great and I was hoping there might be something online for Easter.

@FriendlyLaundryMonster Glasgow School of Art do courses for over 16s, not sure about Dundee, but even your local adult education centre probably has courses. My daughter has tried out wet felting and wood turning! Wet felting was fun but very messy and time consuming. But trying out new things also sparks creativity.
By the way, half the kids on the UAL course were international, with one girl flying in from China for it! Such is their reputation (not sure if they still deserve it to be honest).